Traditionally, a guy who hit .236 with six home runs isn't going to move the needle all that much when the club announces that he's expected back the following season, but Erik Kratz has a special place in Milwaukee Brewers history after his 2018.

The club announced Tuesday they had avoided salary arbitration with the 38-year-old catcher, and he will be back in 2019.

Here were the moments when Kratz built his legend, all since being acquired by the Brewers from the Yankees in exchange for a player to be named later (minor leaguer Wendell Rijo) in late May.

He was magic in the National League Division Series

There is no "MVP" for the NLDS, but Kratz would have been on the short list if there had been.

Kratz had five hits in eight at-bats, including a double in Colorado and a two-run single in Milwaukee when the Brewers topped the Rockies in Game 2, 4-0. He only played in two games, but he was a big part of the Brewers sweeping the Rockies in three. It was an impressive performance for a player making his first-ever postseason appearance despite a lengthy career in the game of baseball.

He also drove in a run in the NLCS and finished with a .292 batting average in the postseason.

He's got a great background story

Teammates congratulate Milwaukee Brewers' Erik Kratz as he returns to the dugout after scoring on a wild pitch thrown by Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Scott Oberg in the sixth inning of Game 3 of a baseball National League Division Series Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018, in Denver(Photo: Joe Mahoney, Associated Press)

This is a guy who's been employed by nearly half the organizations in baseball, who made his Major League debut at age 30 and had been bouncing around ever since, and only in 2018 did he finally get to play in the playoffs (he had previously been on a playoff roster with the Royals but did not see action in the postseason).

At 38, Kratz became the oldest player to start a game in his postseason debut since Lave Cross in 1905 with the Philadelphia Athletics – and Cross happens to be a native Milwaukeean. Go figure.

He had a monumental hit in one of the craziest wins of the year

The Brewers' 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 24 has to rank as one of the craziest wins of the year, if not the craziest.

Down to their final out in the 15th inning, pitcher Jordan Lyles – the last guy available to the Brewers – drew a stunning walk, extending the inning in a game the Pirates led by two runs. Kratz followed with a two-run single that tied the game, and Orlando Arcia won it one batter later with his own single, with Lyles hustling around to score from second base.

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto (19), right, and Milwaukee Brewers catcher Erik Kratz (15), left, exchange words at home plate in the third inning during a National League baseball between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds, Thursday, June 28, 2018, at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. (Photo: Kareem Elgazzar)

On June 28, benches briefly cleared when the Brewers played the Reds, and a frustrated Joey Votto exchanged words at the plate with Kratz.

Afterward, both players naturally downplayed the argument, and Kratz gave quite the money quote. Pun intended.

"We were discussing the Canadian dollar and flawed systems in our two governments," Kratz said. "He was coming from a different side of it and we were just discussing those kinds of things.”

He was one of the sport's best pitch framers

With a staff that relied heavily on its bullpen and needed breakout performances from late-blooming pitchers like Jhoulys Chacin and Wade Miley, the catching defense became all that more important.

Many metrics noticed that Kratz was among the best in baseball at "pitch framing," maximizing strike calls for Brewers pitchers – which was key since they liked to nibble on the fringes of the strike zone. That may have been a hugely unseen benefit to Milwaukee's success in 2018.

His dudes back home have his back

One of the most enjoyable postseason subplots came in the National League Championship Series, when several of Kratz's longtime friends showed up at the home games against the Dodgers, each wearing a different jersey from his past.